Ald. Pawar launches news outlet to promote 'unity' - and 'disrupt' conservatives

Nearly five months after dropping out of the race for governor, Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar is jumping into a new challenge - launching his own non-profit news outlet meant to be the "progressive response" to the conservative think tank, the Illinois Policy Institute.

The North Side alderman told the Sun-Times he plans to announce the launch of One Illinois on Wednesday, with the organization's first batch of stories to focus on Illinois' river towns and "the resilience of communities" - with a trip planned from Galena all the way to Cairo. Pawar said the first stories will go live shortly after the March 20 primary.

"Our goal here is - I don't think it's liberal or hyper liberal or far left to simply talk about investment or equity or fairness because if that is considered liberal or progressive, we are heading to a very scary place," Pawar said.

"Illinois is not broken. Illinois is not a terrible place to live, despite what people say. There are a lot of things to see and a lot of things to do that are worth highlighting."

Pawar, 37, said he'll work to bring communities together "for economic development, for policies that support working families."

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